


Virus

by hips_of_steel



Series: Parenting... What FUN! [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 11:33:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4605159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hips_of_steel/pseuds/hips_of_steel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alfred comes down with a nasty virus, and Arthur and Francis have to work hard to keep the twins apart while Alfred recovers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Virus

Alfred was sick.

During the morning, Francis had gotten a call from the boy's normal babysitter that Alfred was running a fever and wouldn't stop crying. He'd rushed over to her house to take Alfred into the doctor, and had to leave poor Matthew behind.

Finally he'd fallen asleep in the waiting room after crying and screaming for half an hour. Francis sighed, stroking his young son's hair. "I hope your dad got my message. Otherwise he'll be very upset if we don't get home before dinner time."

The nurse finally came out. "Alfred?"

Francis picked up his son, who opened up his eyes at the movement.

_Please don't cry, please don't cry!_

A scream of protest rose from Alfred.

Francis sighed as he followed the nurse into a room and prayed the doctor would be here soon.

 

The doctor came quickly and examined Alfred. Finally, she took his socks and shoes off.

His feet were covered in red blotches.

"Looks like Hand Foot and Mouth."

Francis raised an eyebrow.

"Virus. Highly contagious. Causes rashes on the hand and feet and sores inside the throat. Luckily, since Alfred is young, he'll probably be over it in a few days. Part of a chewable antihistamine dissolved in water should help, but you'll need to make sure he stays hydrated. Hot chocolate is the best since it'll soothe the throat."

Francis looked at Alfred who was whimpering. He nodded. "Alfred has a twin. How contagious is this?"

The doctor paused. "Just contact with spit can spread it. I've seen a few teenage babysitters come in with it before just because the child drooled on their shirt or sneezed on them."

Francis thanked the doctor and sighed as he left the office.  _Great... just great..._  


"Hand foot and what?" Arthur asked as he chopped vegetables for Francis.

"Mouth. Highly contagious. I'm not sure what to do exactly. We should try to keep Matthieu away from him. I thought maybe we should move Matthew's crib into the spare room."

"Hmm. I don't know. It may be better to move Al into our room in case he needs one of us. That way, we don't have to move the baby monitor either."

Francis nodded, and the microwave dinged. "Oh, that'll be the chocolate milk."

"Want me to take it to him?"

"Yeah, try to get the whole bottle down him. He should take it."

Arthur nodded, picking up the warm milk to keep his son hydrated.

 

Matthieu sat in Francis's lap while Arthur feed Alfred. The twins were eight months old and starting to develop teeth, and Matthew was currently chewing on a teething toy which Francis had sanitized earlier.

"Can you say papa, Matthieu?"

Matthieu looked at him and made a quick baby gurgle before going back to chewing the icy ring in his hand. Francis sighed and looked up to see Arthur trying to shove the bottle back into Alfred's mouth. "How's it going over there?"

"He won't drink, little bastard."

"Arthur, language." Francis reminded him, picking up Matthieu and standing up.

"You know what, I'll take Matthew, and you can have a turn!" Arthur stated, setting down the bottle and holding out Alfred to Francis.

Francis shook his head, taking Alfred and handing Matthieu over to Arthur, who muttered something about finally getting time with the easy baby. Francis grinned a little at that. Matthieu was anything but easy when it came to going to sleep.

He sat in the rocking chair and put the bottle to Al's mouth. Al finally opened up and took a few sucks before spitting it back out.

"Oh, we can do better than that, mon fils. Open up for papa, please?"

Alfred opened his mouth again.

"Merci, mon Alfred. Merci."

 

Arthur had finally gotten Matthieu down into his crib without him screaming. He sighed in relief. In retrospect, it might have been better to stay with Al.

He returned to the living room to find Francis asleep, still holding Alfred, who was also asleep. Arthur smiled, taking a quick mental image at the sight of his husband and child curled up together. He hated to wake him up, but they needed to go to bed, and Francis would be annoyed if Arthur left him to sleep here.

"Francis?" He said.

"Mmmhhmmm?" Francis replied, opening his eyes. 

"Time to put this little guy to bed and get some sleep yourself."

Francis looked down in surprise to see the infant he was clutching to his chest. "Oh. Yes, bed time it is."

Once Al was set in the crib, now located in their bedroom, both men went to sleep, hoping the next few days would turn out alright.

 

Francis met up with Gilbert and Antonio for drinks a few days later.

"Hey, you look like shit." Gilbert commented, only to receive a swift whack from Antonio via newspaper to the back of his head.

"Alfred had a virus and just recovered. Arthur and I have spent the last few days trying to keep the kids apart in order to avoid a plague, so I've been stay home with Alfred while Matthieu's at the sitter's house."

"That's rough." Antonio said. "I'm glad he's better now, though."

"So am I."

 

Two days later, they decided it was safe to let the boys play together again. Matthew acted as though they'd been apart for years, sharing every toy he had with Alfred (even if they were Alfred's to begin with). Alfred giggled and happily played with his twin while chewing on his own teething toy.

"We've avoided a plague of biblical proportions." Arthur said, sighing in relief. Francis nodded, smiling as he watched their sons play together.

"You know..." He began, and Arthur looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "After all the events of the past week, I believe we deserve a night off. What do you say to that?"

Arthur grinned. "Tomorrow night sound good to you?"

"I'll make sure the sitter knows." Francis said, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

Arthur gave him a quick kiss and then went upstairs to fetch the boys pajamas all while Francis imagined the possibilities of tomorrow's date night. 

**Author's Note:**

> So this is very loosely based off of a real life occurrence for me. That line about babysitters who get the Hand Foot and Mouth Virus? Me. You usually get it as a toddler, but I didn't get it until I was fifteen and babysitting a toddler who had it. It's really nasty, and the blisters on my feet made it nearly impossible to walk, so may you never have it. I wanted to die.  
> Also, that line about hot chocolate is true as well. It was the only thing I drank that whole week because it didn't hurt to swallow.  
> BTW the advice about antihistamines... true for adults and teens, but I'm not sure about babies. When I wrote this at first, they were toddlers, not infants, so if that is medically inaccurate, I apologize.


End file.
